


russian dramas and greek tragedies on the way to domestic bliss

by GravityComplex



Category: Renowned Explorers: International Society (Video Game)
Genre: Established Relationship, F/F, Grief/Mourning, Headcanon, Meeting the Parents, Minor Character Death, Minor Original Character(s), Probably ooc, serious talks about life and the future, taking liberties all over
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-12
Updated: 2018-01-12
Packaged: 2019-03-03 22:51:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,059
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13351164
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GravityComplex/pseuds/GravityComplex
Summary: A story about Bia, understanding relationships and finding out that things can be fine.Because sometimes things can be fine and that should be enough.





	russian dramas and greek tragedies on the way to domestic bliss

**Author's Note:**

> dis fandom had nothing of my otp
> 
> yer welcome, fandom
> 
> Also I took waaaay too many liberties with timelines and historical events — so if you tight about those you ain't gonna like this
> 
> This is a game where you fight Darwin while he's riding a dinosaur, so maybe we can forgive my transgressions

The fact that smoking wasn't allowed inside the main Society's office wasn't something Bia cared for very much, since it didn't affect her.  
  
Now that she was outside freezing her ass while stress smoking, there was some willingness to understand why others had complained so much. It didn't help that you could only choose between smoking on the roof — which involved an impressive amount of stairs, as the elevators were practically always full — or to the side of the main entrance... Which was also a considerable walk. Because everything was fucking large in and around the building.  
  
Pinkerton didn't want anyone visiting to deal with the smoke, which was fair, but at least he could've made some 'smoker' rooms.  
  
Just for fun Bia was planning to save some of her cigarette butts for Pinkerton's favorite frangipani.  
  
That'd show him.  
  
Bia heard a series of steps behind her, and was about to unsheathe her sword when the owner of those steps patted her back and laughed.  
  
"Long day?" Yvonne sounded way too happy for... Whatever she'd been doing. She probably saw that weird dude she liked so much. The redhead with the weird thing for explosions.  
  
That weird dude.  
  
Yvonne had weird taste in men.  
  
"Pinkerton sent me to act as babysitter. Again."  
  
The laugh that came out of Yvonne made Bia wish also for a drink. Maybe she could ask Agatha later.  
  
"Suh Mi or Hildegard?"  
  
" _Both_. Both at the same time." Bia threw the cigarette to the floor and violently stepped on it. "I told Pinkerton if he did it again I would put my sword where the sun doesn't shine."  
  
"Ha. Harsh." Yvonne continued to sound amused, but could imagine what pain in the ass that was — the kids weren't bad, not really, but could definitely be a liability sometimes and as adults the others had to make sure to keep them safe.  
  
And Bia made it sound like taking care of two kids at the same time was tiring as nothing else.  
  
Which probably was, actually.  
  
"At least you're back and... What? Resting I hope? Our team is supposed to get going for the challenge of the month in two weeks."  
  
"Yeah, yeah... I know." Bia sighed loudly. "Are you taking the captain position?"  
  
"Actually, I asked Anna and she thought it would _only_ be fair if you were captain this time."  
  
Anna, Yvonne and Bia had worked together for almost three years. Bia had requested Anna to work with her the first time she was captain and Yvonne had offered her charms to the team out of her own volition.  
  
Since then they tended to work together unless they had previous plans with someone else, but their team was always the priority — Bia regularly rejected offers if it was to create issues with them, and Anna very rarely worked with anyone else to begin with. If she did work with someone else, either Bia or Yvonne were part of it too.  
  
"It's been a while I guess. Sure, I'll be captain." Bia took another cigarette from the box she kept in her pants, lighting it and taking a long, deep drag.  
  
"... something happened _besides_ the whole babysitter thing, didn't it?"  
  
"Why would you think that?"  
  
Yvonne looked annoyed and pinched Bia's arm, trying to make her jump. Sadly for Yvonne, Bia had enough muscle to make her pinching sort of useless.  
  
"You need to stop that, Lefreve."  
  
"Oh, you're using last names. Now I've done it." She laughs, patting Bia on the back again. "Seriously Bee, you're smoking more than usual. And you only smoke when you're stressed."  
  
"I told you not to call me that."  
  
"What? Bee? C'mon, it's cute. I'm Yvi, you're Bee and Anna is Anny." The playful smile Yvonne kept on as her expression didn't help her case.  
  
It reminded Bia of a smug cat being threatened by knives and not caring in the slightest.  
  
"I'm not in the mood, Yvonne."  
  
"Then something big is happening." She put her hand on Bia's back and rubbed it, trying to be soothing. "Look Bia, you can tell me what's wrong. I'm not going to go around telling everyone... As much as I love gossip, team first, right?"  
  
Bia looked at Yvonne, who smiled at her, still with a hand on her back, and gave a smile right back at her.  
  
"Yeah, team first." Once her new cigarette was finished and properly stepped on, Bia sighed and dared herself to continue talking. "So... I'm kind of seeing someone."  
  
"Oooohhh... _Scandalous_."  
  
"Yvonne I swear —"  
  
"I'm joking. God, you have a hair trigger." She rolled her eyes. "Just talk and don't take me so seriously."  
  
"You know I'm very serious about—"  
  
"About everything, yes!" Yvonne made a sound that could only be described as 'Uuuuuggggghhhh' before continuing. "Just get to the point."  
  
"The point is I'm seeing someone and it's serious."  
  
"How serious?"  
  
Bia coughed loudly, looking at the floor.  
  
"Meeting your parents serious."  
  
Yvonne stared for almost a minute and blinked rapidly.  
  
"Wait... How long have you dated this person?"  
  
Another cough.  
  
"About... Almost two years?"  
  
Now Yvonne just looked insulted.  
  
"You've been dating someone for two years!? And you never told me!? Bia, this is _prime_ gossip material!"  
  
"Which is exactly why I didn't tell you. I like having a private life."  
  
"Never mind that!" Yvonne raised her arms in the air dramatically before she calmed down, knowing that if she continued to complain she wouldn't get the rest of those juicy details — she had to have some self control. "So you're dating some boy—"  
  
"I'm gay."  
  
Once more Yvonne looked insulted, and even made a face at Bia that included a mighty pout. Honestly, couldn't Bia just tell her things? Not to mention having the gall to interrupt her so much.  
  
"... So you're dating some girl and now she wants you to meet her parents?"  
  
"Basically."  
  
"What's so bad about that? I mean, unless you're not serious but—"  
  
"I am serious." Bia immediately had to interrupt, not feeling comfortable leaving Yvonne to get her own ideas regarding that. "I just... I never met anyone's parents before. I don't know what to do. Or what to expect."  
  
"You've got no strategy for the combat ahead and are freaking out then?"  
  
"... I suppose, yes." God, Bia felt awfully predictable just then.  
  
"You're worrying too much. I can't imagine who'd date you but her parents can't be all that terrifying."  
  
"Excuse me? 'Who'd date me'?" Bia glared at Yvonne. "What are you implying here?"  
  
Yvonne shrugged.  
  
"No offense, Bia, but you're one of the most serious people I've met in my life. I can't imagine who'd complement you or... Anything." She sighed. "I'm not calling you a bad prospect or anything, girl. I'm just saying it's surprising."  
  
Bia would've argued, but Yvonne wasn't necessarily wrong.  
  
She was, in fact, a very serious person — who could come off as abrasive and violent to others, even if she was very willing to compromise if they had reason to (or once the initial anger subsided, depending the case) — and generally had issues forming relationships outside of their coworkers.  
  
There wasn't anything bad to the second one, but seeing as Yvonne loved to be the center of attention and have the world at her feet, she probably found it strange of her.  
  
The years of war and later mercenary work hadn't been kind to Bia when it came to her interpersonal relationships, even if she was highly regarded back in Greece and her relief efforts had gained her even more positive attention, she didn't really have friends outside of her Society co-explorers and those she had fought for their independence with... And many of the last ones were much older than her.  
  
Or dead.  
  
"I suppose you have a point." She sighed, taking out another cigarette.  
  
Yvonne made a face that reminded Bia of a rather angry prairie dog and, as the quick thinker she could be, handed her a cigarette to pacify her. Once both were lighten up she continued talking.  
  
"... Do you think they'll like me?"  
  
"I like you just fine, and we all know I have incredible taste." Yvonne answered, prideful and very matter-of-fact-y.  
  
"Wow. Such praise. 'Yvonne Lefreve likes me just fine' truly the highest of honors." Bia wasn't a woman of sarcasm, but after so long going around the world with people like Yvonne, she acquired a bit of a taste for it.  
  
"You're a sarcastic little shit and I love you" She even made kissy noises for emphasis.  
  
"Ha. Love you too, you overinflated ego with a face."  
  
They smiled, relaxing against the closest wall available. Bia had to admit she felt much better now, even if she wasn't sure how to tackle the whole 'meet my parents' situation.  
  
"So when are you leaving for this 'meeting my girlfriend's parents' adventure?" Yvonne asked after a particularly long drag, one that she tried to make a ring off of once she exhaled, and failed miserably to do so.  
  
"This week. We're staying in Pogranichny and we should be back with two or three days to prepare for the challenge."  
  
"That fat little emperor is kind of a piece of shit with his challenges I swear to—" She stopped in her tracks and looked at Bia with eyes large enough to fill the space of a powerful Russian's hypnotic pectorals.  
  
(She might've seen Ivan training the other day. It was awkward. Mostly because Maria thought she was staring at him.)  
  
"Isn't... Isn't that in Russia?" Yvonne was starting to feel something weird was going on.  
  
"Yes, it is."  
  
Yvonne tried to think back to anyone she knew that could be dating Bia who was also Russian... The problem was that she knew only one person who fit that bill.  
  
And as the possibility of what she thought to be true went higher, the comfort she felt plummeted to the ground.  
  
"... Bia, who are you dating?"  
  
Bia coughed loudly. Once, twice, and looked away.  
  
"Anna."  
  
"Anna? As in our Anna? Anna Proskuriakova? Anna 'I'm electrocuting Rivaleaux until he smells like burnt cheese' Proskuriakova?"  
  
"... N—" _Why would she even try to lie?_ "Yes."  
  
For several minutes, all Bia could hear was Yvonne loudly cursing her and angrily insisting she'd been betrayed. Over exaggeration, sure, but par for the course with Yvonne.  
  
"I cannot even— you two've been _lying_ to me!"  
  
"You're exaggerating Yvonne..."  
  
"Exaggerating?! You two've been dating—"  
  
"We wanted to be private about—"  
  
"And probably fucking during work too!"  
  
"We're too responsible for that—"  
  
"Oh really!? How can I be so sure!? You could be hiding all the sex you've been having behind my back!"  
  
Bia stared directly at Yvonne for a minute before simply saying:  
  
"Anna's a screamer. You would've noticed."  
  
The face of horror that overtook Yvonne was worth whatever embarrassment Bia might forever feel for openly admitting something like that.  
  
Covering her face with her hands, Yvonne muttered something like 'of course she's a fucking screamer' before sighing, letting her hands slowly slide from her face, and looking at Bia.  
  
"You two? Really?"  
  
"Is it that weird?" Bia had to smile.  
  
"No... No, I guess not. Wasn't exactly expecting to find that out, though. Hell of a secret if you ask me."  
  
"Not as big as the _alpacapocalypse_ priest though, right?"  
  
"Don't even remind me..." She groaned. "I still cannot believe _that_."  
  
Bia hummed in agreement and went back to her cigarette, the smoke filling the space between them.  
  
Now that Yvonne knew, it didn't feel like that big of a deal. Yes, it was a big deal for Bia, because it was the first proper relationship she ever had, and meeting Anna's parents was terrifying — but letting people know? Not so bad anymore.  
  
"So, when did it start anyway?"  
  
"... Remember our trip to Hungary?"  
  
"Yes... There were cultists everywhere and that confusing wolf bandit. Difficult to forget."  
  
"Well, after she confronted me about where I was getting my info — you know, the one I told you I've gotten from my... Supposed spies — and all. I kind of." She sighed. "I wasn't expecting that?"  
  
"What? That she'd accuse you of being part of the anti-explorers?"  
  
"That she'd accept what I was doing... I know war relief is considered altruistic and whatnot, I simply think it's the right thing to do mind you, but that didn't mean you were going to take it so well. Or not make fun of it."  
  
"Make fun of it? Geez, Bia. That's a low opinion to have of us."  
  
"I didn't know you so well." Which was true at the time, Yvonne couldn't deny that.  
  
"Fair, fair. Still, if anything, it made us warm up to you. You might've lied... But you were doing something anyone would be proud of."  
  
Bia couldn't help but smile at that. While Yvonne's praise wasn't something she cared for — she didn't really care for anyone's praise rather — it meant a lot that her efforts to help were supported so openly. She was doing it for Greece and its people, and as long as they were safe Bia would be happy, but the support of a friend truly mattered.  
  
"Yes, well. After that Anna and I got closer, I guess? She started teaching me how to thinker and I helped her with some breakthroughs in her work..."  
  
"Ah, truly the way of romance... For fucking nerds."  
  
"You're an ass." That was all the acknowledgement that deserved. "Anyway, we just. Sort of started spending a lot of time together, working and talking; she'd ask about how I worked my strategies and how guerrilla combat works and — I don't know, we just got really close." She blushed softly as she kept going, feeling only a little bit bashful. "And one day we were working together and... And I think she needed a screw or a tool or something."  
  
"And you kissed her?"  
  
"God, no. Our hands just touched a bit too much and Anna blushed, which was a first and maybe a bit confusing at the time." Bia laughed, remembering how Anna's face had looked — tomato red from her ears to her cheeks and (eventually she'd find out) even downer. "We stared at each other for a solid minute, got all awkward and then we kissed."  
  
"Geez, I take it back, _that_ is the way of romance for fucking nerds. And adorable too." Yvonne pinched Bia's arm again, gaining a swat on her hand.  
  
The two of them looked at nothing in particular in front of them for a moment. Silent companionship was all they wanted, at least for a minute or two.  
  
"Hey, Bia?"  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"You're going to be fine, girl."  
  
"... I really hope so." 

 

* * *

 

Pogranichny was larger than Bia expected, but it had been her mistake not to — it was the center of the Pogranichny District after all.  
  
Anna hadn't told her much about it, only that her parents had moved there a few years back from her hometown. She didn't exactly say it with malice, but it seemed like Anna missed visiting them in their old town. Bia could relate, in a way.  
  
After the long trip from London, Bia had to admit that some of her nerves had subsided, at least a little.  
  
The only problem was that Bia knew basically nothing of Anna's parents. She'd mentioned her mother was a nurse and her father a scientist — specializing in electricity, which made sense, someone had to pass the love for science in general and electricity in particular to Anna — but otherwise Bia was in the dark about them.  
  
As they left the center of the city to what only could be considered the suburbs, Bia felt her stomach do several movements — of the acrobatic variety — eventually falling so far down it might as well have been uselessly resting, all stretched out, over her intestines.  
  
That was definitely the worst metaphor and mental image she'd ever produce.  
  
The Proskuriakova's home was smaller than Bia had imagined — why she tended to fail in her size related assumptions was anyone's guess — although she could see at the farthest edge of the property a larger building. Probably a lab, if Anna's father liked to work as much as she did.  
  
Anna opened the door, sighing loudly beforehand, and immediately finding herself pressed against a relatively short woman, who seemed bent on killing her in the softest way possible.  
  
Svetlana Proskuriakova had given Anna practically all of her features — dark black hair, the fairest skin Bia had ever seen, her cheekbones and nose and lips, — very few things had come from her father apparently, in particular her blue eyes. Her mother had dark, almost black eyes, almond shaped; she was probably half chinese, they were right by the border and her features were not as soft as most of the chinese people she'd met, so Bia could only guess as much.  
  
(Although considering her regular failures at guessing lately, she might be wrong.)  
  
" _Lisichka_ , my girl, it's so good to see you." Svetlana happily attempted to murder her daughter via the strongest hug Bia had seen.  
  
" _Mam_ , please..." If Anna was telling her to stop because of her embarrassment or if it was because she was being choked no one could be sure.  
  
"Now, now, let your _mam_ have a look at you." She took Anna's face in her hands after separating, smiling brightly. "Oh _lisichka_ , you are looking so beautiful today."  
  
" _Mam_ , please." Anna repeated, sounding very much ashamed then.  
  
She turned to look at Bia for a moment, making her mother notice her and immediately getting her hands on her.  
  
"Oh, you must be the young lady Anna told me so much about!"  
  
'Young lady'? That was something Bia had never heard used to refer to her.  
  
"Ah, yes." It took a moment for her to answer. "That... Would be me, ma'am."  
  
"Please, dear, call me _mam_. Now come in, come in!" Svetlana practically dragged both Bia and Anna inside, rapidly sitting them in the largest couch in the small, slightly cramped living room — which had just enough space for both of them — as she put the water for some tea and sat in one of the armchairs facing them.  
  
It was rather awkward for Bia, who stayed quiet as Anna recounted their trip to Pogranichny and some of her work in the Society. Mostly the parts that didn't involve dangerous roads and people trying to kill them.  
  
Or _alpacapocalypses_.  
  
Eventually, and giving her mother a particular look beforehand, the kind that would be accompanied by a pout if she pouted at all, Anna stared at the door that led outside to the backyard, barely visible from the opened kitchen door by their right.  
  
"Is _pap_ working in the lab?"  
  
"Anna, you know your _pap_." Svetlana giggled. "Of course he is."  
  
Anna gave Bia another, different, look. Bia simply nodded, as she left to greet her father and probably catch up in the _scienciest_ way possible.  
  
That left Bia alone with Anna's mother however, and she could feel the sweat dripping down her back even though it was fall. In _Russia_.  
  
"Dear don't make that face! I'm not planning to eat you!" Svetlana giggled once more.  
  
Bia didn't even realize she'd been making a face.  
  
"I'm... Sorry, ma'am. I've never been in this situation before. I must admit I'm sort of... Nervous."  
  
"No reason to be. Anyone who makes my _lisichka_ happy has my love as well."  
  
A bit weird to hear such a thing, in Bia's opinion, but very much reassuring.  
  
"Now, now. Tell me more about yourself! Anna said so little when she wrote to me about her strong woman—" ‘Strong woman’? Really? "—I feel I know nothing of my _nevestka_ ."  
  
"I... I was born in Sparta. Fought for the greek revolution and worked as a mercenary afterwards." Bia came out awkward and maybe a bit cold, but to be fair she was in fact feeling awkward and the Russian weather wasn't kind on her.  
  
"Anna mentioned you fought in the war, actually. I was surprised she'd date someone so much older!"  
  
"I'm... Not _that_ old, ma'am."  
  
Svetlana stared at Bia, blinking a few times in confusion.  
  
"How... How old are you?"  
  
"I'm 30, ma'am."  
  
It took a bit for Svetlana to do the math, but once she was done she looked at her with both surprise and something that might've been pity.  
  
Bia hated to be pitied, although she understood the reaction. If Anna had started fighting a war at 14 or so, she'd make a similar expression too.  
  
"I'm sorry, dear..."  
  
"It's fine, ma'am. It was for my country and its people."  
  
"You're very proud of it." Wasn't a question. Didn't need to be.  
  
"Yes. Greece is everything to me. It is my homeland."  
  
"Anna told me you were also working on war relief there... She chose a very strong and caring woman to be by her side."  
  
Bia smiled softly, weirded out yet very pleased with such loving praise.  
  
The both of them took time to know each other, Svetlana resolute to know as much of her daughter in law as possible, Bia mostly trying to learn what not to say around Anna's family. Their conversation included Svetlana talking about Anna as a baby, which Bia was honestly delighted about, and only a pause for Svetlana to make their tea — she implied that by the time Anna and her father finished whatever they were doing, the tea would be cold enough to be frozen, so it didn't make much sense to prepare it for them.  
  
Eventually both of them got quiet, the tea being sort of their primary concern — that and the cookies Svetlana had made, which were truly excellent and had, in Bia's humble opinion, the perfect amount of cinnamon.  
  
She looked at Bia and gave her a soft, caring smile, making her feel just a tiny bit under the spotlight.  
  
"I was surprised when Anna told me she'd found someone like you."  
  
"... Because I'm a woman?" Bia wasn't expecting Anna's family not to have even a little hang up over that.  
  
"What? Oh no, not at all. Anna... She's very much like her father you see. Their first love is science, so much so they forget about anything else. Even eating sometimes."  
  
"Yes... I've noticed."  
  
"Well, good! Anna needs someone to take care of her. Not literally of course... But to remind her to be good to herself."  
  
"Was her father like that?" Curiosity was Anna's thing, not Bia's, but she had to admit it was interesting to find out these things.  
  
"He was worse!" Svetlana laughed loudly, making Bia realize that laugh Anna had came from her too. "Volya... I met him when he got into an accident. See, he was working on some experiments — he was contracted by this man who wanted to find the secret to immortality of all things, crazy but he paid very well he told me — and I was working at a hospital close to his lab."  
  
"That's a strange way to meet."  
  
"Oh, it was so much worse! Volya never took breaks or anything of the sort, ridiculous man he is. So it was the first time he had, well, time for himself! So he struck conversation with me a lot." She giggled. "I think he never spent time with a woman he didn't work with. So awkward he was."  
  
Bia smiled, trying to imagine such a thing, reminded of the way Anna would sometimes blush and get awkward when they were together. Although she felt like Anna had a much more social personality.  
  
"Point is, one day he comes to the hospital after he got discharged... With a bouquet! He asked me to _marry_ him of all things!"  
  
Now that just turned weird. Svetlana looked mostly amused though.  
  
"I said I would let him court me and then we could marry. Poor Volya was a disaster, but he always cared even if he forgot life outside of his experiments. He would dedicate his work to me, and create mechanical little things for my birthday." Svetlana's smile turned soft again, so much so Bia felt a bit awkward, as if she had intruded in something very private. "Volya and Anna are very much like that, so obsessed with the wonders of the world. Very curious, to the point of being ridiculous... They need someone to make sure they don't forget the parts of the world they don't experiment with. Even if that person is only a friend."  
  
Bia nodded, not fully understanding and yet doing so. Anna _was_ like that, so forgetful about the world that she wondered sometimes if they were as close as she thought; there was always a strange distance that came with Anna's way of the world, but Bia knew that she would be there for her if needed, that there wouldn't be any... _Emotional unavailability_ from her.  
  
If one day they came to the point Svetlana and Volya had come to then Bia had nothing to worry about.  
  
"Don't worry ma'am. I'll take good care of Anna. Always." Bia's tone was the most serious it'd been since she had stepped into the Proskuriakova's home, and it seemed to please Svetlana a great deal.  
  
"I know, dear. And truly, you can call me _mam_!"  
  
"Thank you... _Mam_." Bia blushed as she spoke, the awkwardness from before coming back in full force.  
  
By the time Anna and her father had come out of their world and into the house, Svetlana was already making dinner, Bia by her side, helping her with chopping what was needed for her stew.  
  
Volya seemed to approve of Bia as fast as his wife had, specially after she mentioned her skirmishes during the war and all the ingenious ways weapons were made thanks to the lack of resources on their side. He was utterly curious about their methods, just as Anna had been when Bia first mentioned it to her.  
  
Things would be fine. 

 

* * *

 

It took Bia three months to consider the idea, and two more to bring it up to Anna.  
  
The idea, in this case, was going to meet Bia's parents.  
  
Bia hadn't been sure what brought such a thing on, not exactly, but during their second anniversary — the one Yvonne invited herself in and got incredibly drunk, complaining about dumb yankee scientists who didn't pay attention to her, nevermind Bia was sure Earl was not from New York — she'd looked at Anna and decided she was going to take her to see her family.  
  
Traveling to Greece wasn't really an issue, if anything it was exciting for both of them — Bia missed her home terribly while away, and Anna was very much fascinated by both the history and the technological advances that the ancient greeks had made.  
  
Still, going back home for Bia and having Anna meet her parents took a kind of involvement she'd never been a part of, and a lot more stress than meeting Anna's.  
  
Once they had landed, they immediately moved to Bia's home in Sparta — a small house in the outskirts, close enough to get whatever was needed but far enough for Bia to have whatever solitude she wanted and required.  
  
The house wasn't exactly small, but it wasn't large either, the only thing giving it any sort of sensation that it was larger than needed were the three rooms in the first floor. One with a double bed, one with a single bed and one that seemed prepared for a baby. All very... _Spartan_ , hilariously enough.  
  
Bia was sure Anna had noticed those things, just as she had noticed how empty and unused the house truly was — to not mention the weird abandoned feeling it exuded, — but she made no comments regarding its state nor did ask Bia any questions, and for that she was truly thankful.  
  
They waited until the next day to go out, both a bit tired from traveling the day prior. Bia had insisted it wasn't a long trip, but she also wanted to pass by some other places on the way there — and Anna knew she couldn't really try to argue with Bia about something like that.  
  
There wasn't much to get on the way, though. Bia mostly wanted to get some groceries, and Anna assumed those were mostly for the visit than to fill the cabinets for the place they were staying at.  
  
However, they also passed by a small flower shop.  
  
"Miss Hekaton! It's been awhile! I assume you want the usual?" The young man behind the counter asked as Bia walked in, being recognized immediately.  
  
"Please, Alekos. And no need to call me miss, I'm not that old." Bia wasn't exactly insulted by being considered older, but it got a bit tiring with time.  
  
"Of course, miss Hekaton!" He laughed, starting to grab Bia's usual until he saw Anna being her, carrying their groceries. "Excuse me, do you need anything, miss...?"  
  
"She's with me, Alekos."  
  
Alekos stared at Bia for a moment, and then at Anna, flowers still in hand but unmoving, before opening his mouth in such a way Bia was sure the man had not thought before doing so at all.  
  
"... She's really white and eastern."  
  
"Alekos, do you _want_ to die?" At the very least Anna didn't seem offended, just surprised, but that didn't mean Bia wasn't going to stab Alekos to death.  
  
"I'm sorry! I wasn't expecting... That sort of lady for you, miss Hekaton! I thought you'd bring a proper, _greek_ lady!"  
  
"Alekos... Get the flowers before I cut one of your hands off." The poor boy was digging his grave deeper, and while Bia had patience, it could run very short.  
  
Alekos made a loud 'eek' sound and grabbed all the flowers Bia requested every time she passed by, giving them to her with trembling hands.  
  
"I'm... Very sorry, miss. You're just... You're really a _surprise_." He spoke to Anna, his face red and his tone very much shameful.  
  
Anna nodded, somewhat understanding.  
  
"It's... Fine. Do _not_ repeat this." Anna's tone was harsh, but it was the sort of tone she had used on Bia when first teaching her, so it wasn't necessarily a bad sign.  
  
Alekos nodded and took Bia's payment, wishing them a good day as they left the shop.  
  
"I'm sorry about him... He's a kid, and only really knew me during the war, so he has—" Bia made a series of hand motions, trying not to mess with the flowers in the process. "—weird ideas."  
  
Anna smiled.  
  
"It was strange, but as long as it's not repeated I'll let it pass. He's not completely wrong, though." She kept smiling, trying to stifle a laugh. "You did get us in trouble with locals once or twice by proclaiming the superiority of greek... _Everything_."  
  
Bia blushed and coughed, getting just a tiny bit uncomfortable.  
  
"I'm proud of my country and its people."  
  
"I know." Bia only blushed more when Anna spoke, as she sounded far too soft and fond — truly a rarity.  
  
They kept walking for what it felt like ages to Bia — a funny thought, seeing as she made the same walk every time she came back to Greece and it always felt like she didn't have enough time — until they stopped at an entrance. Anna didn't really know greek, she'd been learning a bit, but she was still on the basics; no matter, it's not like she needed a translation of any kind.  
  
Cemeteries have a look that's easily recognizable.  
  
Bia had a sort of schedule when it came to the cemetery, something she'd obtained with the years of visiting old friends and mentors.  
  
There were far too many people for her to visit, and for each she left a couple of the flowers she was carrying — it was maybe a bit overboard, seeing as flowers were planted all over as it was tradition, but Bia thought that leaving more flowers wouldn't hurt anyone. Not anyone sleeping there, anyway.  
  
The trip inside the cemetery took them longer than walking to it, partly because Bia wanted to visit everyone, partly because it literally was a longer trip.  
  
Finally she stopped in front of two graves, side by side, as she'd asked to have them buried after the war was over. Anna probably didn't need to translate the names to know who was there.  
  
_Eleutherios Hekaton._ _  
__  
__Ritsa Hekaton._  
  
A sigh was heard, and Bia didn't realize it was her own until much later. She left the flowers and then she spoke, Anna moving to be properly by her side.  
  
She spoke for what felt like hours, Anna staring and trying to translate whatever she was saying in greek, failing miserably. Bia's voice carried the same strength as it did when fighting and traversing the strangest parts of the world... And yet Bia felt like a little child, lost and looking for the protection of a parent.  
  
Eventually she stopped, looked at Anna and then back at the graves, speaking once more.  
  
" _Babás_ , _mána_ ... This is Anna." She gulped. "She's my... She's my _everything_. I know maybe it's not what you expected, choice wise... _Babás_ , you wanted me to marry another spartan girl, right?" Bia couldn't help but laugh a little, and she was sure Anna was rolling her eyes at this silly nationalism. "But she's special to me. She makes me happy. I hope... I hope that's enough, because I'm not letting her go even if you disapprove."  
  
Bia felt Anna hold her hand and for a long moment she kept quiet, before speaking to no one in particular.  
  
"Would they be proud of me?"  
  
"Why wouldn't they be?"  
  
"Because... I know they'd be proud I fought for our country, that I protected its people and now I'm helping it to build itself back up. But would they be proud of anything else?" Her work as a mercenary, her job at the Society, her relationships... Were any of them something to be proud of in the first place?  
  
Anna didn't say anything, and Bia was once more thankful for it, but she moved to half hug her, her other arm occupied with holding their groceries.  
  
"I think —" Anna's voice carried the serious tone she always used, but also a softness that was painfully different to everything else. "—they must be proud that you're happy and that you're willing to do so much, when you could've retired and done nothing."  
  
"I hardly think —"  
  
"I know _I'm_ proud of you."  
  
And then Bia quieted, thinking about her mother's and father's words, thinking of everything and everyone she'd lost. She thought of fire and dust but also of planting flowers for her friends, she thought of the blood on her hands but also of the children that were walking her homeland now because of it.  
  
"We... they fought in the war. Me and some other kids were hiding somewhere, I don't even remember where. There were people outside, and my parents... they were some of the only adults there and— and it was either the adults escaping and us staying or me and everyone else getting sent somewhere safe and them getting the brunt of it to give us time to leave."  
  
And at the time Bia had wanted to be the one to stay.  
  
Sometimes, when it was dark, she still thought she should've stayed.  
  
She hugged Anna and those four inches she towered her with were heavenly then, because it meant she could cry against her hair in complete silence and without shame.  
  
For the first time in her life, Bia Hekaton mourned.

And it was fine.

 

* * *

 

 

It wasn't until many hours later, in bed and full of a good dinner, that Anna started questioning Bia.  
  
"Why didn't you tell me?"  
  
"I... Didn't know how." Bia knew that was probably a weak excuse, but it was true.  
  
"You could've told me the same way you say everything." _Directly and seriously_ didn't need to be specified.  
  
Bia moved to rest her head against Anna's chest, having to curl herself up to do so properly.  
  
"It's hard. I never... I guess I never really did this. Mourning." It was a difficult thing to admit, but it made sense.  
  
Between war and work, who has time to mourn?  
  
One of Anna's hands moved to pet her, the other holding onto one of Bia's. Her hair was a mess, covering the pillow her head rested on like a pure black halo.  
  
Bia liked this black stained angel.  
  
"Was this your house?"  
  
"Yes. It was me and my parents and." Bia gulped. "They were planning to have another kid, but everything just... Happened."  
  
"And then kept happening, I assume."  
  
Bia nodded, pressing her head even more against Anna's chest.  
  
Neither of them were particularly endowed in that respect, although Anna was definitely the one to stand out between the two. Bia was not only perfectly fine with that but also rather happy, if only because resting her head against that small, hard space between Anna's breasts made her feel safe.  
  
"Do you think they'd have been stronger? Your sibling, I mean?" And Bia laughed after Anna asked, simply because that was such a ridiculous thing to ask.  
  
"I think so. I'm not even that strong... _Mána_ was much stronger than I."  
  
"Was she?"  
  
"I inherited everything from her, _babás_ used to say I was like a tiny copy of her... I inherited her sword and I inherited her title after I started fighting." _The Terror of Thessaloniki_ had never felt like a title she deserved and yet Bia held onto it as if anyone could take it from her.  
  
"She must've been very strong." Anna laughed softly.  
  
"I think _babás_ was afraid of her, if only a little."  
  
Anna laughed again and pressed a kiss to the top of Bia's head.  
  
"I think you're very strong." And as she spoke, Anna's accent slipped a bit, all heavy _Rs_ that Bia found perfect.  
  
"Not... Really. Ivan is much stronger than me, for example."  
  
"Ivan is built like a brick house and could snap most like a twig with his bare hands, but he is soft." Her accent kept slipping. "You're not soft like that."  
  
There weren't any lies to what Anna was saying, but Bia hadn't expected her to be referring to _that_ kind of strength when she spoke.  
  
"I suppose. You're also very strong." _And terrifying_ , she added mentally.  
  
"And terrifying." Anna added, making Bia laugh loudly.  
  
That moment seemed to extend for hours, time and the world outside a blur, and it wasn't until the sun was starting to leave them — and with it a heat that had Anna complaining — that either of spoke again.  
  
"What are we going to do? In the future."  
  
Bia looked at Anna, just a tiny bit confused.  
  
"In the future?"  
  
"We've never talked about that sort of things." Anna said, and Bia delighted in the way she pronounced ‘never’ before speaking.  
  
"I suppose we haven't."  
  
They hadn't, had they? Bia couldn't remember a time they had at the very least.  
  
The reality was that they wouldn't be doing what they did forever, or at least not with the same frequency — they were young still, yes, but time never stopped and they couldn't lay in their bed forever as if they didn't need to move along with it.  
  
"Do you want get married?"  
  
"I think I do. Not yet, but soon."  
  
"Do you want to have kids?"  
  
"I don't know, maybe? I definitely do not want to be the one carrying them."  
  
"I don't mind that, we could adopt."  
  
"Our kids should look like you, though."  
  
"You just want to gush over their looks… And probably my belly."  
  
"Maybe."  
  
They went quiet and Bia took the opportunity to move, resting now on her back. She took Anna along with her, making her curl at her side while Bia held her tight.  
  
"I feel like we're going to hurt each other one day."  
  
"I think... Most people do, relationship or not."  
  
No one was the same, after all. No one ever held the exact same ideas and values.  
  
"I suppose. Will you forgive me if I do?"  
  
"If you accept that you hurt me and we can talk about it, yes."  
  
It was weird, speaking about such things. They never had, their relationship didn't start in a way where they ever considered talking about such things — what they would do in the years to come, what they wanted from a partner.  
  
Bia thought of Svetlana's words, she thought of the way Anna could tune out the world when she found something new to uncover.  
  
"I promise to do the same, if I hurt you."  
  
"It wouldn't be fair otherwise."  
  
Anna held onto Bia and Bia kept holding her as before, kissing her forehead, eyelids and lastly her lips.  
  
"I... I don't want to hurt you."  
  
"It's hard not to hurt others accidentally, though. We just agreed about that."  
  
They did, and yet it didn't feel right not to say so.  
  
Hurting was learning, in a way. You may hurt learning to walk, you may hurt when riding a bike for the first time — hurting was _human_. hurting was _natural_.  
  
Hurting others was part of the process of learning to be by other people's sides, of course. But to learn, in that case, what was needed was the acceptance that you will hurt and you will be hurt, and that you should be able to accept that you hurt others the same way they'd hurt you.  
  
Learning how to talk such things and find a way to not hurt each other was important too. Maybe the most important part of it.  
  
"Thank you."  
  
"What are you thanking me for?"  
  
"For being in this bed with me."  
  
Silence took over them once more, and Bia thought of Svetlana's words again, and she thought of the memories of her parents — playful with each other even when the world seemed to be falling apart.  
  
She thought of her and Anna sharing a home, a bed every night, children and maybe grandchildren and maybe just _everything_ the world still had to offer them.  
  
And then she thought of Yvonne's words, all those months ago, and smiled before kissing Anna's lips again.  
  
_You're going to be fine, girl._  
  
Yeah, everything was going to be fine.


End file.
